Midnight Phone Call
by RobertDowneyJrLove
Summary: For a few minutes, one late night phone call will give them what they need...each other. Alternate universe. Edited due to a rule violation I was made aware of.


_Keely Teslow. _

Her name flashed on the screen of his iPhone - he's not sure if needing the latest in technology is a future trait or a geek trait - illuminating his face in a white tinged light. Her number is still in his phone out of pure habit. Her number had been in every cell phone he's ever owned and as the old saying goes, old habits die hard. Despite his best efforts, he couldn't delete her and sometimes, when he was bored or he just missed her, he found himself pulling up a blank text message and willing his fingers to type something, anything.

So why does her call freak him out so much?

He missed her. He always missed her. That was something that couldn't be changed, even by beautiful, British Via. That still doesn't explain why he's staring at his vibrating phone with wide panicked eyes and why he's wondering what in the world he's supposed to do. He reluctantly picks up the phone, if only to stop it from skittering across the counter and dropping to the floor, to possibly break and need replacing. Something that his budget wouldn't allow for, what with his upcoming wedding.

"Hey, Keel." His voice closely resembled that of Kermit the frog - well that's embarrassing - but he knew her, even if she picked up on it, she'd ignore it.

"Hi Phil." Keely sounded more timid than he remembered her ever being.

"You know," Phil leaned heavily on the kitchen counter, adjusting slightly until he found the somewhat comfortable position he sought. "It's three in the morning where you are. Normal people are sleeping."

"You know," Keely began and Phil can already tell she's going to mock him. "It's midnight where you are. Normal people are sleeping."

"Normal people don't get calls from their crazy best friends at midnight." Phil reminded her playfully, releasing a breath of relief. His eyebrows furrowed together in confusion, "Keels, why are you calling me so late; is something wrong?"

"I needed to talk to my best friend," Keely admitted, allowing some of that timid reluctance to seep back into her voice. It had been there when he answered the call, he notes, as if she hadn't expected him to actually answer the phone. She refused to tell him how childish she felt for calling him just to hear his voice. She doesn't want to tell him that what she really needed from him was something only he could give her, the reassurance that they were doing the right thing.

"Hey, are you crying?" Phil contorted his face in confusion, "Keely, what's wrong? Everything okay?"

She released a breath, just as he had not a moment ago and with tears stinging her eyes, she admitted something she never thought she'd have to. "I just...needed to hear your voice before you got married."

He honest-to-God does not know how to respond to that. How in the bloody hell was he supposed to tell her that that was the very reason he picked up the phone? How was he supposed to tell her that he needed to hear her voice before he got married because he wasn't sure that their friendship would survive his impending marriage? Via was already insecure enough about their relationship, having known Phil and Keely through high school and having personally witnessed how deeply and how honestly they had loved one another.

"I needed to hear your voice too, Keel," he whispered, subconsciously reverting to that habit he had picked up in high school of dragging his free hand through his hair.

"Why are you whispering, Phil?" Keely inquired softly.

"I can't be too loud, Keely." Phil told her quietly.

"Oh." Keely's hurt whisper resonated in the back of his mind as something that he had caused.

"She's in the next room." Phil shook his head as he looked over his shoulder at the bedroom door that was just illuminated by the dim light of the kitchen to make sure his fiance wasn't spying. "Sometimes, Keel, I wish she was you."

"Why?"

"Because you're my best friend." Phil whispered sadly. "And because I never really moved on from you, at least not enough to stand up at that altar and marry Via with the confidence of a guy who knows that he's marrying the right girl."

"I never moved on from you either," Keely told him softly. "I wish we had tried a long distance relationship."

"There were too many things in the way." Phil told her, looking down at the dark formica counter-top. "Like people who said that we could never make it work."

"That's funny...in high school that never stopped us. The only people holding us back were ourselves." Keely laughed bitterly. "Now it seems like the whole world is against us."

"I know."

"I wish it could have been different, Phil." Keely admitted, a fair amount of bravery returning to her voice.

"You know," Phil smiled despite himself as he pulled his hand through his dark hair and changed the subject. "It's really good to hear your voice saying my name. I've missed it. Still makes me kind of weak."

"You don't like Via's accent?" Keely asked him before launching into a high-pitched British voice like that of his girlfriend. "Phil, I love you."

"Not...it's not that...I just..your voice was always much better than hers." Phil told her softly. "It was never her voice that brightened my day."

"I'm glad I could do that for you." Keely smiled over the phone.

"Well, you were an angel to me." Phil laughed softly. "You were the only one who knew and who didn't mind."

"Via doesn't know?"

"I can't tell her." Phil shook his head, again reverting to his nervous habit of pulling his hand through his black hair. "She wouldn't understand like you would."

"I'm sure she would understand, Phil." Keely tried to reason with him.

"You know," Phil changed the subject again, eager to stop talking about the British woman in his bed. "You make it hard to stay faithful. I don't wanna say goodbye now that you've called."

"You make it hard to stay in New York." Keely laughed. "I don't like goodbyes, Phil."

"I know, Keely." Phil sighed softly. "Anyone new in your life?"

"I don't think having the same boyfriend for two months makes him new in my life anymore, Phil." Keely giggled at his question.

"It's kind of funny, you called me tonight. I was just thinking about calling you." Phil admitted, drumming his fingers on the counter. "I dream about you a lot."

"I dream about you too, which is partly why I called." Keely countered his admission with one of her own. "I dream about you every night. Have for a while."

"I don't know how to stop." Phil whispered, before quietly asking an inevitable question. "Does your boyfriend know you're talking to me? Are you two going to fight over this?"

"Me neither," Keely shook her head and looked over at her sleeping boyfriend. "And no, he doesn't know. Does Via?"

"She's sleeping. Doesn't have a clue." Phil shook his head, sparing a second glance over his shoulder just to be sure. "I miss you, Keely."

"I miss you too, Phil."

"I want you back."

"I want you back too." Keely's broken whisper is nearly enough to drive Phil over the edge. "I should go."

"Me too." Phil nodded, "It was really good to hear your voice again, Keel."

"You too, Phil."

In different parts of the country, two cell phones drop to a flat wooden surface - one to a nightstand, the other to a kitchen table. In one part of the country, Keely Teslow is sliding down underneath the covers of her bed, trying to fight the tears in her eyes while in another part of the country, Phil Diffy is returning to his bed and not bothering to fight the stream of tears in his eyes, regardless of the chances his fiance might see them if she were to wake up.

His cell phone lay forgotten about on the table, her name still scrolled across the screen in clear black letters. The consequences of his late night phone call will befall him in the morning when his fiance finds it because she gets up before he does and perhaps it will give him the courage he needs to admit that she's not the right one for him. Perhaps it'll be what he needs to admit what he's always known. The simple truth that no matter where they were in time, space or otherwise, Keely Teslow is the love of his life and no matter what he does, he can't change that.

* * *

**Due to some rules regarding the use of lyrics in a story, at least the way I was using them, I had to remove the lyrics but I can tell you the story behind the story. This story, in case it isn't obvious, is heavily inspired by 'Lips of an Angel' by Hinder or Jack Ingram, depending on which version you prefer. I like both but I heard Jack Ingram's first so I tend to veer toward his. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this edited version. Thank you to CraftyNotepad for all of the advice and the wonderful reviews. You are the greatest! **

**Love you, **

**RobertDowneyJrLove **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Phil of the Future, which makes me sad, because Phil Diffy and Keeley Teslow can never get married like I want them too. Anyway, I don't own the song that inspired this story either. In case that wasn't clear either. **


End file.
